Saltizerh
Land of the tieflings, known for its cuisine, social justice, and easily offended diplomats. Geography The Rudina Roda (motherland river) is huge, and the main method of transportation of inland Salitzerh. It connects North and South. The area surrounding is mountainous with thick woods, except where it’s been cleared for farming. Most of Slatizerh’s population is located along the river, as well as (though less so) the far west coast, which is mostly smaller trading and fishing towns. To the East, the area resembles the Wildlands, and so do many of the inhabitants, as that border has blurred a bit do to neglect. The South is arid because of it’s proximity to Arkhosia. This desert area is populated by thieves and nomads, I think it might be cool to have a city of thieves, thoughts?) which the government hasn’t had time to clean up. The deterioration of the Pustynya Wall (Desert Wall) which seperates Salitzerh from the Arkhosia is partly caused by salvaging of the stone, which is being used on the Northern wall, as well as weathering, and a number of strange things from the desert have crossed through. The capital Zhemchuzhina Port (Gem Port) is a huge, sprawling city along the Pustynya Wall at the end of the Rudina Roda, the wall was built into the ocean to protect from threats in that direction. It’s the main trading hub of the surrounding nations, with gems from Zoluto Ogan Mountain being transported there for trading. The nearby expanse of swamp is generally uninhabited, though their are a few villages here and there. The North is mountainous woodland with large expanses of volcanic fields, like up Mckenzie Highway. Government Saltizerh has two branches of government, one to run the military, another to deal with civil issues. The military government’s capital is located in the north along the unfinished Slava Wall (Glory Wall). It’s composed of a High General and a 10 person council. The council is the 5 highest military officials for each division (ex: warlocks, archers, etc) and their deputies. They choose the High General from among them based on a number of challenges including combat, chess, and another challenge I haven’t thought of yet... Then he or she would have to get the approval of 75% of the public. This is done by visiting the 23 current districts, where they would kiss babies and such. Districts change and are added based on population, so they all have roughly the same population, and there is a lot of gerrymandering. The council can choose to hold a challenge for a new High General whenever they want, though the High General can choose to ignore the election for up to 6 months. The council usually just conspires amongst itself and kills the High General if they’re not acting in the councils interest. Every ten years the High General has to seek public approval again. The Military Government is considered superior to the civil one when they come into conflict. The Civil Government is made of 79 odd Provintsiyas (provinces) drawn down different lines than the voting districts. The Civil Government is older, and each Provintsiya is diverse, and of different geographic and population sizes. About 70% of them are some form of democracy, the rest are mainly religious oligarchies, and there are a few ruled by ancient noble bloodlines. Delegates from each Provintsiya meet in the capital where they get nothing done. Culture All children are educated with the same basic curriculum, which includes, aside from reading and such, basic combat, arcane or melee, as well as good citizenship training, similar to Spartan Agoge. At 15, children take the S.A.T (Saltizerh Academic Trial) where their future careers are decided based on their intelligence and strength in different areas. Preferred careers differ by area, in the towns along the Slava Wall, it’s considered a mark of shame not to be a warrior of some kind, many other places feel it’s at least an honorable position. For most assigned career paths it’s more general, and children can choose to carry on their parents trade unless their skills are demanded elsewhere. Though it’s a collectivist society, dodging your chosen path isn’t completely uncommon, many such people end up in the capital where there is too many people to keep track of that sort of thing, or in the East, which tends to ignore those mandates as much as possible. Revolution also tends to break out in the East and the South East where the threat of war is more distant. A person tends to have 3 names which they use commonly. The first name is chosen by the parents, and describes something significant to them, the second name is often given by seers, who forecast the child’s destiny (most are frauds), The third describes the geographic location of their birth, and is proceed by “of”, this name changes depending on how far one is from their homes, to become more general. (quick character note: I’m making Nina’s birth name Inna Irinushka -strong water, peace-) Food is often spicy or literally on fire. Horns can be used to tell apart individuals (used like finger prints as ID), and to see lineage. It’s socially acceptable to bring pets anywhere in the capital. Art is mainly seen in propaganda or graffiti, places of worship, or on practical things like ceramics, though painted horns is considered a very posh thing to do. There is a wealthy merchant class who often pays off delegates of the Civil Government to get various favors. Almost everything is taxed, unless you’re in a more backwater town (there’s a lot of backwater towns, btw). Most people worship an entire pantheon rather than one specific god, some are old, and not all of them are obviously real, human sacrifice isn’t uncommon in certain Provintsiyas, and a lot of people are superstitious or ritualistic. I imagine the religious aspects of their culture as similar to ancient greece. Ingeneral, If you get caught doing something illegal, you’re given a trial (decided by the Provintsiya’s leaders), and either executed or sent to work on the Northern wall for a few years, unless you’re a minor. Duals are common, bloody, and socially acceptable, though actually killing someone is considered extreme. Racism is frowned upon. As far as technology goes, it might be interesting if they make use of geothermal energy. One of the biggest issues is depletion of natural resources